Nov. 3

Please read the following letter from Gary L. Park, President, UNC Hospitals, and Allen Daugird, MD, MBA, President, UNC Physicians, about our organizational results from our 2016 fiscal year and the Organizational Incentive Program. Thanks to everyone for your excellent performance in FY16 and for your continued dedication to the patients and families we serve.

UNC football will play a home game on Saturday, Nov. 5, at 12:30 p.m. versus Georgia Tech. Please plan appropriately as you travel to/from UNC Hospitals and the School of Medicine, as traffic will be heavy several hours before game time. Also, remember that certain parking lots are reserved for UNC home football games.

Beginning Wednesday, Nov. 2, Surgical Services nurses will notice that ‘ERAS – Enhanced Recovery After Surgery’ has been added as a teaching point in the Perioperative Period (Adult) education title. Starting Tuesday, Nov. 8, the Perioperative Period education title will automatically be added to the chart for surgical patients.

To improve care coordination between our specialists and patients’ primary care providers (PCPs), and to ensure proper billing and payment, it is imperative to confirm that each patient's PCP is correctly listed in Epic@UNC. This is especially important for patients with Carolina Access health insurance.

The time will ‘fall back’ from 1:59 a.m. to 1 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 6. All inpatient nurses working that shift should review the details at this Intranet link to avoid any issues with equipment (glucometers) and Epic@UNC documentation (MAR, I/O, Graphs, Work List, Doc Flowsheets, Beaker Labs, Stork Obstetrics).

For the last four years, students, faculty and staff at UNC and UNC Health Care Network have participated in Movember -- a global fundraising campaign committed to changing the face of men’s health. The Movember Foundation challenges men to grow moustaches during Movember (formerly known as November) to spark conversation and raise vital funds for men’s health programs that focus on prostate cancer, testicular cancer, poor mental health and physical inactivity. Our 2016 UNC Network goal is to raise $50,000 -- we hope you'll consider donating, growing, or both!

It has come to our attention that some providers across UNC Health Care are receiving notifications from CMS regarding potential payment adjustments for failing to successfully report Physician Quality Reporting (PQRS) metrics in calendar year 2015. View details at this link.

Based on a report from 4 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 2, there are still a number of UNC Medical Center employees who may not have completed all the necessary premium credit activities for the State Health Plan Open Enrollment, which closes at 11:59 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 5. Employee Benefits has sent direct emails to employees missing credits, but as an additional step, we’re sharing this status list of all employees sorted alphabetically by last name.

WLOS ABC 13 in Asheville, North Carolina, followed Bryan Parker, 30, for months as he waited for a double-lung transplant. Bryan's surgery took place here at UNC Hospitals in September. Dr. Benjamin Haithcock and Dr. Jason Long of the UNC Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery were his surgeons. "Now, I can inhale, get a good breath in, and just fully inhale and exhale and that's a great feeling," Bryan says. Watch and read the full story from WLOS.